Codename: Galactic Kids Next Door
by Serenity12
Summary: Nigel Uno has been chosen to go on the most incredible journey of his life. More importantly, he'll take part in a quest that will affect planets from all over the universe: finding the cure for the disease known as "Adulthood."
1. Chapter 1

As the door opened, a spacious room speckled with soda cans and bags of chips revealed itself. It held the cozy atmosphere of a family, the tone of laughter still vibrating off the walls. Spot dab in the middle of this stood a worn old couch, and on its cushions sat a very young, very pregnant women.

She looked up from the thick piece of paper she had been so concentrated on and allowed a delighted grin to spread across her face, motioning the two newcomers over to her.

"Hey Numbah Infinity, you finally got off your lazy butt and brought me my new recruit!"

Instantly Nigel tensed and let his hand fall on the weapon attached to his waist, hesitating only when he saw the teenagers' impossibly swollen belly. Baffled, he glanced at his superior, and not surprisingly his mouth had dipped into an irritated frown. In a low whisper, he asked in a frenzy, "What's a TEENAGER doing here, Numbah Infinity?"

Ignoring Nigels paranoia, the operative cleared his throat and spoke so formally anyone listening would have assumed he was speaking to a business partner instead of an old friend. "These things DO take time, Numbah 72. Regardless, he's here now. Meet our new representative of Earth, Numbah 1."

She held out a hand for assistance, and Numbah Infinity gently helped her to her feet. After steadying herself, she graced the small, bald boy with a warm smile and offered him her hand.

"Welcome aboard, Numbah 1. Refer to me as Numbah 72 if you want, but my names Alison Wilgus. How was your trip?"

Still slightly winded from the false alarm, and now thoroughly embarrassed at his obvious mistake and disrespect at a superior, he accepted the handshake and saluted stiffly, "Thank you Numbah 72, sir. My name is Nigel Uno. The trip went smoothly with no complications; I'm very excited to be here."

"Good, good. You should be!" Slowly, and with a bit of struggle, she sat herself back down on the couch and sank into its pillows as if exhausted. She flashed Numbah Infinity a coy pout, and whimpered in a tone that rang "I'm-asking-you-to-do-this-but-you-really-have-no-choice".

"Numbah Infinity..." She began, "My poor little feet are so sore, and I'm SO tired...will you be a dear and put them on the coffee table for me?"

One of the proud leaders of the Galactic Kids Next Door stood still, his left eye giving off a slight twitch. Despite this, however, he picked up his comrades swollen ankle, and one by one placed them on the table in front of her.With a peaceful sigh and a smile, she thanked him, and as her eyes gleamed suspiciously, added slyly, "You can rub them too, if you want..."

"Numbah 72!"

Alison fell into a fit of giggles at the sound of his horrorification, and patted the seat next to her, averting her attention to the very confused recruit before her.

"Take a load off Numbah 1, you've had a big trip. Just make yourself at home."

"Ah, thank you. I guess it has been a long day." He sat next to her, trying desperately not to gawk at her and all her pregnant glory, having never seen a women with child before.

"The second operative from Earth to join the Galactic fight against adulthood. You have a lot to live up to kid."

"Excuse me, "second" operative?" Having earned his attention, Nigel looked to her curiously, "But I thought I was the first representative Earths ever had."

"Well, in case you didn't notice, I'm kind of from Earth too!" Alison chuckled, "Though there is some truth to what you say. You are the first representative earths ever had. I, however, am the first operative they've ever had. Actually, I'm more of a co-founder of the GKND. Which is only befitting, I think, considering I created the KND to begin with..."

"YOU created the Kids Next Door!?"

Laying her hands on her belly, she grinned proudly, "Yup! You might of heard of The Book of KND, I heard it got pretty popular. Well, once upon a time, that was my diary. I wrote some of the very first standards of the KND in there, some of my first adventures too…that feels so long ago now. My friends and I made the first KND Tree House. I can't really take credit for Moon Base though, since Numbah Infinity pretty much did that without our help, but I was there when it happened."

"This...this is incredible! I can't believe I'm actually talking to the creator of the Kids Next Door! I mean, because of you, kids everywhere stand a fighting chance against adult tyranny!" Despite himself, Nigel began bouncing up and down on the springy sofa, his excitement causing his words to become quick and messy.

His happiness didn't seem contagious, however, as Alisons eyes suddenly dimmed, staring mindlessly at her tummy.

"Kids didn't always HAVE to fight adult tyranny...the Kids Next Door was something that shouldn't have had to exist..." She breathed a deep sigh, receiving a comforting hand on her shoulder from Numbah Infinity. She looked at him kindly and gave his hand a light squeeze.

"I had better get back to base. Your team is still around, correct?"

"Yeah, they're around here somewhere. See you later Numbah Infinity."

"Take care, Numbah 72. Goodbye Numbah 1, you'll be given the day to settle in but you'll be called into Registry tomorrow. Good day to you both."

"Yes Numbah Infinity, sir. I'll be sure to be ready."

He all but ignored Nigels response as he let the doors close behind him, leaving the room in momentary silence.

Alison studied him, as if expecting something. He was small, he had no hair and if his background information was correct he would remain bald for the rest of his life. His sweater was suitable enough, but she made the decision to get him some long pants, for surely Earth was much warmer than this distant place.

Then she smiled at him as though he'd just given her a gift. Here before her was a little piece of Earth, a little boy who went to Earth school, who felt Earth wind, who swam in Earth rivers or oceans or whatever it was kids swam in these days. She would have been envious of him if he hadn't had the unfortunate situation of adult tyranny to deal with.

"Numbah 1...do you know what adulthood is? You know it's a disease?"

Startled by her sudden question, Nigel gave a quick nod, "Yes, sort of. They mentioned something about it before I left."

"Would you like to learn more about it?"

"I-well, I mean, yes, of course I do."

She let herself sink even further into the sofas warm embrace, looking not to Nigel but ahead of her, as if watching the story unroll as she spoke it.

"Earth wasn't infected at one point...things were very different then. You consider 18 to be the age of adulthood, right?"

He nodded.

"Do you know why that's the age of adulthood?"

"Well...no, I guess not..."

"Because for the typical human, that's when the disease becomes fully active. When Earth wasn't infected, when I lived there, a person didn't really count their age after 17, because that's when our bodies stopped developing. We lived much, much longer than the average human does now, so there wasn't really any point in counting. When the first signs of infection showed up though, people started noticing that their bodies began to grow even after they turned 17. Somehow, the disease flipped our ageing process. We used to grow old from the inside out. Our bodies stayed young, and when our organs grew too tired to work for us anymore, we died. Our organs were strong though and lasted a long time. Our bodies, however..."

Alison examined her hand, twisting and turning it like she had never seen it before. She'd close it into a fist, tensing up her arm, and then let if fall back into relaxation.

Turning to Nigel, she looked at his transfixed face with eyes that soaked up her words.

"They're not very tough at all. Pretty frail, actually. Our bones can be broken easily, and we can even get paralyzed without much effort. Now their even more vulnerable since the disease. Humans become less agile as they grow older, they lose most of their strength, their skin sags, and even their hearing and sight suffer in some cases."

"There's a reason humans now-a-days are so obsessed with youth, Numbah 1. Somewhere in their conscious, they know that what's happening to them isn't right. It's not NATURAL. Our bodies just aren't supposed to that, they're not..."

She paused, settling herself and looking apologetically to Nigel, "Sorry, I'm ranting, aren't I?"

Still entranced, his answer was hesitated before he quickly replied, "No no, not at all! I'm quite interested actually!" He relaxed against the pillows behind him, letting the knowledge sink in. "Wow...so there basically used to be no adulthood..."

Alison shook her head, "No, not quite. Adulthood is more of a state of mind if anything else. I was lucky enough to not become infected. I'm 17, and I can act silly sometimes, but make no mistakes I am an adult. Adulthood is not a stage where you put down kids and want to make everything easier for you. It's when you gain full emotional maturity, when you realize how connected everyone is, and how you're just a tiny, tiny part of a very big deal. Adulthood is..." She rubbed her belly with flushed cheeks, her eyes suddenly a bright and vibrant contrast to their once dull appearance.

"When you're ready to give up your life completely and dedicated it to something much smaller than you, to live solely for that one something until the day you die."

Nigel stared at her, and as he did this he began to think of his friends. He wondered what they were doing at that moment, and he wondered, vaguely, if any of them could give up everything that revolves around them and live for just one thing. He also realized at that time, that he himself couldn't. Not yet, anyway.

"Numbah 72..."

"Hmmm?"

"Why weren't you infected?"

She picked up a bowl next her, filled with round Cheese Balls and covered in chocolate syrup. Though she offered some to Nigel, he politely declined, resisting the urge to make a grossed out face. Shrugging, she plopped a couple into her mouth and munched before finally answering him.

"That's a good question. Just lucky, I suppose...I was only about, oh, say 6 or 7 when the infection began to spread. It really only affected those who were fully grown at first. Of course, then those people gave birth to new kids, who were then born with the disease already in their body. Some people had a natural immunity to it. No real explanation as to why. As long as you weren't born with it, you were pretty much safe as long as you were young enough. If you were born with it though, the disease was pretty much submissive for about 13 years before showing activity. And so the term teenager was born. The first stages of the disease."

"Don't get me wrong though. There are still cases where the disease stays submissive way past 13. That's why KND is able to have some teenage operatives; their infection just hasn't been triggered yet. You're infected too, you know. We looked into your profile though. According to research, your infection is in such a deep submission that it's not expected to activate in a long, long time. If I had to guess, I'd say about your mid-forties or so. It's one of the reasons we picked you."

"Oh..." A varied mixture of emotions tugged at him, shouting above each other to gain his attention.

"My friends." He said suddenly, "What about them? How long do they have?"

Alison shook her head at him again, "I don't know, but even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

"Well why not!?" He demanded, regaining his old, irritated voice that used to come to him so often.

"It'd be like telling you when they were to die. There's some things you don't wanna know about loved ones, Numbah 1. It doesn't matter now anyway, there's nothing you can do to stop it besides what you're doing right now. Just treasure the memory of them, Nigel. They're the best things you'll ever have. They're the only..."

Tears welled up in her eyes as her voice began to break. In an attempt to stop herself, she placed a hand over her mouth, but it was in vain. A sob came just the same, her shoulders shaking; her cheeks wet and blotched up. A shocked Nigel just sat staring at her, unsure how to react. He finally opted for a gentle pat on the shoulder, the sort of awkward physical contact that was born between strangers in circumstances such as this. She wiped the tears from her eyes and motioned over to a stand near Nigel, where a box of tissues sat waiting to relieve her. Obediently, he gave them to her, and she carefully dapped herself dry and, turning away from him out of courtesy, blew her nose.

"Sorry..." She mumbled, tossing the used tissue onto the coffee table, "I've been kind of emotional lately."

"Oh, no, it's all right." He smiled kindly to her, unable to mask the pity in his gaze.

She smiled back at him, though it was a pathetic attempt compared to what she'd given him earlier. For the third time that night, she sighed. Lightly drumming her fingers along her stomach, she quietly confessed to him a sort of secret that she had tried to forget.

"I miss them..." A sniffle, and then she continued, "I miss my friends. I miss my teammates..."

Nigel remained quiet, not sure how to comfort her when he himself was dealing with the same problem. She let her head fall back onto the couch, staring up to the intricate designs on the ceilings.

"They're gone by now, no doubt about it...they got infected, and I still don't know how. It wasn't too long after we built Moon base. John helped design it, you know. He was like the technician of our team. He was so smart, I mean he could do anything, make a weapon out of anything. The ships you guys used to make trips to Moonbase, Numbah Infinity helped to make the trip so short, but John did everything else. He was so smart Numbah 1..."

He nodded, remembering his own smart friend at home, "Yeah, I know what you mean..."

Running a hand through her hair, she sniffled again, gulping down any tears that threatened to escape from her again.

"He's the whole reason we even found the Galactic. He always believed we weren't the only living things, that there were others far away. He invented some kind of machine...I can't for the life of me remember it now, but it beeped constantly, it was the most annoying little thing...John said it sent out messages to space. I thought he was being dumb, but I was wrong. Numbah Infinity found us, not in time to stop the disease but at least he found us."

"I was with Numbah Infinity when my team got infected, actually. I was up at Moon base with him, going over plans for GKND. At the time we didn't really have much of a transmission system set up. The gang was supposed to meet us though, and when they didn't show up, I…" She glanced down shamefully, "Well, I was kind of mad at them to be honest. I was going to yell at them if they decided to show up. Finally we went back to Earth to see what was up, and...um..."

She took a long drag of air, trying to calm herself. She didn't need to continue though, instead, Nigel softly finished the story for her.

"And when you arrived, you found out that your team had been attacked and infected."

Alison nodded, grateful for his quick pick up, "They didn't remember anything, and all the research in the world found nothing."

"Mmm..." Nigel rested his chin in the crook of his fist, drifting into thought before she interrupted him once again.

"It will be different this time, Numbah 1. We're going to find the cure and the cause of this disease. We're going to stop this before your friends even get the chance to think that their old. Or, well..."

She smiled faintly, "You will, at least. I can't very well fight with a baby on my hip. You're my replacement Numbah 1. They started looking for you the minute they found out I was having a baby. I saw you once, actually. Before you found out they were watching you. When I saw you, I felt safe and relaxed, like it was ok for me to leave the team now. They're an experienced, strong group. I couldn't be more proud of them."

This time, it was she who placed her hand on Nigels shoulder, looking him in the eye with a shine that hadn't been there a moment, "You'll be a fine addition to the team. You'll make people proud, Numbah 1. It might be tough at first, and definitely different, but you'll get on your feet eventually. Just don't mess up, or I'll sentence you to babysitting every chance I get!"

Nigels eyes gaped at her, shimmering at the touching words she expressed to him. It was his turn to smile up at her, determination flaring his spirit. He saluted her.

"Numbah 72, sir, I won't let you down."

She smiled. Then laughed. Then shook her head, and then laughed some more. "I know you won't, Numbah 1."

A spark flew past her eyes, and a grin crawled across her chin. Batting her eyes, and using the same pout she used on Numbah Infinity, she asked with the sweetness of a little girl who was up to no good, "Numbah 1...will you go to the kitchen and make me a snack?"


	2. Getting Settled

"I swear, if I catch you eating one more of my Khemla, I'm going to shove this right up your-"

"Oh, look, the new guys here!"

With the unfortunate timing that only newcomers seem to have, Nigel had walked in on a rather awkward situation. Before him, two creatures seemed to be arguing over a jar full of round, orange substances that floated mindlessly in a thick liquid.

The apparent owner of the, loosely put, "food", appeared to be quite round herself, her body an odd oval shape and only a slight indent for a neck, leading into her obtuse head and lips so wide they nearly touched her tiny ears. She held a young boy by his shirt, waving a large, wooden spoon dangerously close to his scaly skull.

At Nigel's announced arrival, however, she assumed an innocent position, much to the relief of her captive, and showed off a long row of white, gleaming teeth. Out spilled a mess of foreign tongue, full of sounds the poor earthling had never heard yet alone would understand. Yet she continued, giving off a friendly enough vibe despite the annoyed glance she shot at her companion.

When she had stopped, the spotlight shifted to Nigel, who remained baffled but tried his best to communicate with the strange beings who surely had to be his new teammates, "Ahh…sorry, I don't speak, um…do you by any chance speak English?"

She giggled and babbled something more as her companion rolled his eyes, flickering his thick tail in annoyance. With a hand to his mouth, he called out something in a raspy, screeching voice.

"It's in the closet!" Alison shouted back casually. At this time Nigel had two concerns: what exactly was in the closet, and more importantly, was he going to have to actually learn these new languages? He faintly recalled a Spanish class his parents had signed him up for during the summer. Nigel had destroyed the classroom by the end of the day and set the children free, convinced that the so-called "class" was actually a conspiracy in disguise, but now he was wondering if that was such a bright idea.

His thoughts were interrupted when the strange boy returned holding a small orange fish that squirmed in his grasp. He motioned to him, but Nigel shook his head as he declined the offer, "Um, no thanks, I'm not hun-H-HEY!"

Before he could even finish his sentence, the alien grabbed him by the shirt and shoved the fish into his ear, ignoring the new recruits protest. Surprisingly, it didn't take much effort as the fish simply slid down his ear tube and dissolved into his system, leaving Nigel in a strange state of shock and disgust as he protected his ears from further violation.

"Are you CRAZY?" He shouted, "What was that? What did you do to me?"

"Oh calm down." The creature spoke in sudden English, "It's just a T.R.A.N.S.L.A.T.R.O.U.T, it won't hurt you."

"T.R.A.N.S.L.A.T.R.O.U.T?" Nigel repeated, still rubbing his ear.

"Translator Really Aids New Soldiers Language And Tones Relevance Of Universal Tongue." The female explained, "It's just a universal translator, everyone uses them so we can communicate with each other. Actually…" She looked at him curiously, "Numbah Infinity should have given it to you when you stepped off the ship."

"I see." He mumbled, inwardly scowling at Numbah Infinities mistake.

"Ahem," The scale covered boy stepped forward, carrying with him an air of importance that demanded the respect as such, "Sorry for any confusion. I'm Numbah 3.7 M, expert of weaponry and stealth tactics for this sector. I assume you're the new cadet we were expecting. Well, I-"

A rude snort cut off his introduction, "Aiden, for the love of Mesa, don't act so high and mighty."

She smiled, body language reeking of flirtation as she began her own greeting, "Excuse him, he really is one of the more primitive species around here. My codename is Numbah 96 T, but it's ok if you call me Jani. Um, they never told us your name…"

Nigel's posture straightened, recovered from the incident and back into a professional mode, "It's good to meet you Numbah 3.7 M and Numbah 26 T, my name is Numbah 1 from Sector V of-"

"No, silly!" She giggled, "I know your codename, I wanna know your NAME."

"Oh, I see." He cleared his throat, "Nigel Uno."

"You've met Numbah 72 yet?" Aiden questioned, leaning against the kitchen counter as his interest in the human began to fade.

"I have. Actually, I'm supposed to be getting her a, ah, snack…" Nigel rubbed the back of his smooth head, suddenly highly aware of how foreign the home was to him.

"Ohhh, I'll help you! I know something she's going to love!" Jani perked, grabbing a handful of very non-compatible foods from the cabinet behind her.

Two failed experiments and one broken plate later, Alison sat satisfying herself on a tuna sandwich mixed with caramel, radish and bits of Jani's beloved Khemla. Nigel's stomach trembled with horror as he watched her enjoy the gooey, smelly treat.

"Mmm…excellent work Numbah 1! This sandwich is amazing! You're making me snacks from now on."

"Yes, well, Numbah 96 T was the one to make it really…" He admitted as she gulped down the last crumb, fearfully wondering if it was going to come back to visit her.

"Ahh, that girl knows me too well. I'd appoint her to cooking duty if I wasn't so selfish about keeping her to myself." Alison grinned and stretched her arms high above her head, enjoying the peace that came with a full tummy, "Well, let's round up the rest of the team, you might as well meet them now and get it over with."

"They left." Jani peeped up, flopping down on a large, mushy chair across from her former leader, "They said there was nothing to do here, so they went to the Recreational Center."

Alison rolled her eyes, irritation dripping from her lips, "Since when do they just up and leave without telling me?" She folded her arms, resembling a scowling child who wasn't getting her way, "I got pregnant, not demoted, for Christ sakes..."

"Well, they told Rhy they were leaving, so it's not like they just took off." Aiden yawned as he leaned over the couch, his ebony arms dangling in the space left between its two inhabitants.

She eyed the young boy, responding sourly, "Why would they tell Rhy and not me?"

"Because I told them not to bug you, that's why." A deeper voice explained from across the room. Its master was a human that at the same time wasn't a human. His basic outline resembled that of an Earth man, but certain details remained out of place. Ridiculously long, bony fingers lingered in the waves of his dark locks, his face almost flat save for the nearly nonexistent bump that was his nose, and high cheekbones with wide cheeks. Perhaps his most eerie tribute, however, were his pupils, or lack there of, with eyes of blue and little swirls of white that combined nicely with the thick, white eyelashes that curled elegantly across his lids.

Now Nigel was a disobedient child growing up, it was true. He would refuse to eat his vegetables and went through a stage where he would claw his way out of a bath. However, he did pick up on his parents efforts to teach him polite behavior, and because of this did his best not to stare at the creature before him no matter how fascinating, or disgusting, said creature was.

"Numbah 1, meet my husband, Numbah 89 T. Though he may not BE my husband for long…"

"Oh now Alison, don't be that way."

"Don't be what way, dear?" She particular stressed the last word, making a mockery out of the endearing term.

Rhy placed his hands on her shoulders, massaging gently as he cooed into her ear, "You needed a break, look at yourself, you're not even leader anymore and still putting all this extra stress on yourself." He grinned an annoying, impish grin, "Am I in trouble?"

She huffed, picking up on his rather inappropriate meaning and resolving not to answer him.

"Besides," Rhy went on, "The whole leader thing is my job now, temporarily at least."

Alison turned, resting her arm on the back of the sofas edge, "Go get the team and tell them their presence is required here. Immediately."

Her tone lacked the warmth belonging to a spouse, instead crashing down on him with an iron fist, demeaning him. A quick glance in her eyes and he could see it clearly: in that moment, she wasn't his wife, and it wasn't just the hormones causing the change. Her spirit was flamed and defenses were high, challenging him to move into her territory, waiting and tempting him to disobey her so that she may put him firmly back in his place. The look on her face said it all: she would humor him for now so long as he knew she was the leader, he wasn't. He never would be. If anything, he was the puppet that she played leader from, a physical form to carry out the duties she could no longer perform. Perhaps what bothered him most was a fact that they both knew: she was superior to him.

None of this was new to Rhy though, he knew her pride and the cruel nature that lay hidden underneath blankets of compassion and love. Once and while he would weigh the two to determine which she had more of, and though it was true that an odd darkness lurked somewhere in her, it was always proven that she had more love in her heart than anything else.

So he didn't bring attention to her tone with him. He didn't even allow himself to feel offended, and in fact brought a smile to his lips as he yielded to his lover, "Of course."

Alison reached for the papers she had been preoccupied with earlier, repetitively flicking them to make them stand straight. It was only one of her annoyed twitches that she was prone to.

Nigel glanced around. Jani had picked up what could only be the equality of a magazine during the heated conversation, and was now flipping through its pages with a dissatisfied expression. Aiden, on the other hand, focused his energy on Nigel himself, seizing him up as if he were meat he was considering to throw away or not.

Apparently, he decided not. As if a cloud had lifted from his mood, Aiden was suddenly all grins, radiating warmth into an otherwise stale room. Thumping his hands on the edge of the couch as if confirming something to himself, he suddenly proclaimed, "You need a tour of the tree house, Numbah 1!"

Both Alison and Jani looked up from their reading, eyebrows lifted curiously. The older of the two nodded, smiling in amusement, "Well, I guess you're right Numbah 3.7 M. You wanna do the honors?"

"You can't be serious!" Jani objected, setting her reading material down, "No way do I trust Numbah 3.7 M with a new recruit! Who knows what he'll try to do to him!"

Alison shrugged and returned to her reading in a much calmer manner, "Go with him then."

"I will!" She huffed, leaping from her chair and marching over to the couch.

"Whatever. Come on Numbah 1." Aiden said, having known Jani long enough to know her insults were fairly empty.

He led them down the hall, pointing our various open rooms as they passed, "There's the kitchen, you know that. Here's the bathroom, we got three of 'em. Here, down there to your left, and toward the back of the house more. That's the command room, go there whenever there's a meeting. Right here…"

He opened a large wooden door, revealing a room full of books, a round table, sofas and cushioned chairs. The light was mellow and dim, lamps scattered here and there to provide extra light if need be.

"…is our library, I guess you could say. We're supposed to use it to keep up to date on the history of KND, new inventions and guidelines, but we pretty much just use it when we want some peace and quiet. Trust me," He shot a look to Jani, "You don't get much privacy around here."

Satisfied by his teammates scowl, Aiden continued on, beginning on the private corridors of the operatives.

"There's Numbah 8 B's room, he creates our weapons-"

"And takes care of the ships, and designed our defense system." Jani interrupted quickly, as though fearing her absent comrade wouldn't get the credit he deserved if she didn't make sure to point out his work.

"This is my room!" She continued, opening the door to show Numbah 1 an oddly furnished bedroom with a round bed, bean bags, twisted lamps and millions of various pictures and drawings taped to the wall, "Knock before you enter though."

"Or she'll throw her clock at you." Aiden added, speaking with obvious experience.

Needless to say, Nigel's head was spinning. Fragments of their conversation floated about him, twirling and scurrying just beyond his grasp as he tried to make sense out of them. A part of him wished he still had his glasses, something to hide the uncertainly in his eyes and give him an appearance of confidence. It was best to leave them with Numbah 5 though, and in fact, he decided, it was better not to think of them at all least they start to tug at his already wrecked nerves.

"Ah, hold on." Nigel stopped in his tracks, finally unable to stand the confusion, "Can I ask something? The lettahs, what do they mean?"

"Letters?" Jani blinked.

"The ones after your Numbahs'."

"They're just to define where our Numbah is. T's for thousand, M's for million, B's for billion…" Aiden explained.

"All right." Nigel nodded once, and then twice, "All right, yes, I see, and this is sector is K-G. The G's for Galactic, correct?"

"Yup." Jani smiled, but her eyes fogged with concern and didn't go along with the emotion of her lips.

Much to Nigel's gratitude, neither of the two pointed out how overwhelmed he was. Aiden began to lead the trio again without question, continuing to point out rooms though with less detail. He stopped in front of a door with a large number one freshly painted onto it. It shimmered with that new paint shine and had none of the dried droplets Nigel had become so accustomed to seeing at his own tree house back home.

"This is your room, Numbah 1." He opened the door and revealed a room decorated with mostly red, white and blue.

Much to Nigel's delight, much of the furniture resembled that of earths and provided him a bit of comfort in their familiarity. He looked closer and found that the cause of the red, white and blue color maze were the tons of British and American flag themed objects that adorned the room. He looked questionably to his teammates.

"Numbah 72 noticed that you were British in your background information." Jani explained sheepishly, "I told her it might be a good idea to put their flag in your room so you had something from home, but when we told the designers they went a little overboard…"

Aiden shrugged his shoulders casually, examining a Britain-themed pen that lay on a nearby desk, "You don't have to keep it. We have plenty of places here you can get stuff from. Most of it's free but each month we get points on a cash card that lets you get special orders, stuff from your home planet. Kids mostly just use it to get food that the chiefs can't make."

"Like my Khemla!" Jani glared, her old anger flaring back up from earlier that day.

As the two began to squabble, Nigel noticed the space suit he had arrived in layed out neatly on his bed. Next to it lay the small, green backpack Numbah 2 had given him in their last minutes together. Upon arriving to the Galactic Base, a couple of operatives had approached himself and Numbah Infinity, demanded that he change back into his, as the operative called them, civilian clothes, and hand over the backpack for inspection. He had complied with changing out of the heavy space suit, but held on tightly to the pack, refusing to let it go. At Numbah Infinities command, he finally gave up and let the object slip from his grasp as the operative took both it and his suit to "examine" them. He now had the powerful urge to search through it and make sure nothing had been tampered with, though he feared that it might have with one particular item in mind.

Yet all the same, he stood his ground in the middle of the bedroom, selfishly not wanting to share the backpacks containments with the two strangers who argued before him. Instead he thought to himself quietly, making a silent list as to what he remembered was in the backpack before so he could check. At this point, Aiden glanced at Nigel and saw his need for privacy, which he had fully expected.

"Whatever Numbah 96 T. Hey Numbah 1, I got some stuff I gotta work on but if you need anything Numbah 72 can help you out. Doubt she'll be moving from the couch anytime soon."

"Oh." Nigel blinked, surprised but somewhat pleased with the operatives sudden dismissal, "All right, no problem. Thanks Numbah 3.7 T."

He nodded and strolled away down the hall, followed by a nagging Jani who gave no excuse for leaving and simply a wave of the hand for a goodbye. Alone at last, the fragments in Nigel's mind finally began to clam, settling peacefully in the palm of his hand. Even so, he still didn't completely understand them, but at least their headache was starting to ease.

He sat down on the edge of his new bed, on his new covers, in his new room. He reached for his backpack and examined it before opening its lid. It was old. It had old fabric, old straps, old painted letters that spelled KND. After a few moments, he finally looked inside, and, having first probed around a bit, felt relief. Everything was in place, but his relief came mainly from the safe return of a small picture, slightly bent from the journey but other than that in one piece. In it showed five young kids smiling back to the camera, himself included.

Blond hair, short height. A round belly and pilot hat. Long black hair and squinty eyes. A big red hat and a cool smirk. A bald headed kid that had no idea what was in store for him.

Nigel laid on his back, staring at the ceiling with the photo still clutched securely in his hand. He'd close his eyes, just for a moment. He'd close his eyes and forget for a moment that he wasn't home, that he didn't have his glasses, that he was holding the photo so tight. The idea sounded appealing, so he did, and it was nice, so he kept his eyes close for a moment more. Than another, and another, until he was unable to count the moments any longer, for he had drifted to sleep, still holding the picture of five smiling kids.

* * *

T.R.A.N.S.L.A.T.R.O.U.T is a fictional KND device made by Krossfire on Deviant art for his comic "Welcome To The Galactic KND". Check it out, it's great. 


	3. Battle Stations

His throat was awfully dry, that was the first thing that Nigel noticed when he began to stir from his deep slumber. He smacked his lips in attempt to moisten them, but it made no difference as he curled into a ball, refusing to open his eyes and throw away the rest of his sleep. It was too late though; his mind was awake and buzzing with an odd dream he had. Rubbing the fatigue from his eyes, Nigel yawned and swung his feet over the edge of his bed as he finally sat up. He mouth stretched open again to yawn, blinking a few times to clear the fog from his lazy eyes.

At the moment it didn't occur to him that his floor had suddenly changed over night, or that his possessions had disappeared. Not even the lack of sunshine pouring from the window caught his attention as he shook himself awake.

Groggily stumbling to his feet, he scratched the back of his head as he made his way out the door and down the hallway, mumbling to himself how it was much too cold in the house. The fact that the entire design of both the hallway and kitchen slipped through his fingers as he grasped the handle of the refrigerator, reached for a carton, and let its containment's pour into his open mouth. His mother would be horrified if she caught him, but at the moment he didn't have the energy to care.

Perhaps if he had been wise enough to follow his mothers' instructions and use a glass, however, he would have noticed that the liquid was a foul smelling, green concoction with bits of grits bobbing along the top. Unfortunately, as is the story with most 11-year-old boys, he learned his lesson the hard way, the contents of his stomach lurching up into his throat, nearly spilling out with the spray of liquid that spewed from his mouth.

"URGH!" Nigel shouted his disgust, trying to wipe away the liquids taste from his lips, "AUCK-BLEH-what is this?"

"What's going on in her-MY SOLUTION! What have you done?" A young boy ran over to Nigel in panic, snatching the carton from his hands and looking from him to the object, a hand on his skull in distraught, "No…oh, my solution…"

"Everything ok you guys?" Jani poked her head out from behind the wall, staring at the incident with curiosity.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know, I thought it was-I just-I wasn't awake, I didn't know I wasn't allowed to drink it…" Nigel stammered, confused and guilt ridden as he looked at the despaired boy.

"It says right here!" The boy hung his head low, shoving the front of the carton in Nigels face so he could see the large, red picture of a glass surrounded by a circle, a thick line cutting between it, "A whole week of research and experimenting nonstop, contaminated! I'll have to start from scratch!"

"I'm sorry…" His words grew soft as Nigel stepped back, wanting to momentarily shrink away, or hide, or anything so long as it removed him from the situation.

By this time, Jani had put herself in full view of the boys, looking between the two of them concerned but quiet as she particularly eyed her distressed comrade, waiting for his reaction. His face resting in the palm of his hand as he calmed himself, the operative took a minute of silence, then sighed and lowered the carton, accepting the event without grudge, "It's ok…it was a mistake…it happens…you didn't know…"

He glanced over to the poor rookies face, which looked considerably pale and almost frightened, and felt the guilt ooze down his spine.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry, I overreacted, it's really not a big deal, honest." He offered Nigel a smile, placing the carton on the nearby counter, "You're Numbah 1, right? Numbah 72's been telling us about you for months. Sorry I wasn't here when you arrived, no one told us you were coming today."

Jani smiled, relived, and laughed in an attempt to help lighten the mood, "I know, right? No one tells us anything anymore!"

Nigels body began to loosen, his drained face regaining its healthy color. He returned the operatives' kind smiles weakly, still rebuilding his composure. All at once, the days experiences had rushed back into his memories, and he realized the dream he had was reality. The sudden impact of this knocked him off his feet, figuratively speaking, and he now struggled to obtain proper confidence.

"Yes, I'm Numbah 1…oh, no, don't worry about it, it's no problem, really…" Nigel replied, if only to fill up the silence. His eyes scanned the cadet before him, surprised in the fact of how similar he looked to what his people back home considered aliens. He had the round head and large, slightly tilted upward eyes, lack of a nose, even the smooth green skin and three round fingers. If this had happened back home, he certainly would have thought it was just a kid in a ridiculously well made costume. Really, the only difference was the set of headphones that sat perched atop his head, though they apparently weren't on as he seemed to hear clearly.

The alien stuck his hand out for a shake, however a bit awkwardly, as though he wasn't sure he was doing it right, "I'm Gavril, codename Numbah 8 B, the engineer for this sector." He grinned, "Surprised to see you still standing after drinking that stuff. How'd it taste?"

"Awful." Nigel accepted the handshake, chuckling, and then looked to him curiously, "What was it anyway?"

"Fuel, I made it for my latest invention." Gavril explained, "I've been trying to come up with a design that will allow us to travel without needing to stop and refuel, but the stuff GKND uses burns up too quickly, so I've been trying to create my own. You're lucky it was still in its early stages-it would of made you sick for months if it didn't kill you first."

"Eh heh…yeah…listen, I really do apologize for that, I-"

Gavril waved his words away as he led them into the living room, "Like I said, it happens. Forget about it."

Nigel nodded and noticed, to his disappointment, that Alison was nowhere to be seen. In her place, Rhy sat relaxed on the sofa, watching in amusement as Aiden shouted orders to a small, holographic figure walking around on the coffee table across from its equally transparent opponent, an upbeat, beeping song radiating throughout the room.

"Come on, come on! Finish him before Numbah 8 B gets back! No! Not that way you idiot!"

"Maneuver number 12, computer!" Gavril called out, watching with satisfaction as his own small figure suddenly jumped over Aidens, drawing his miniature sword and striking the character in the back of his head. Fake blood spewed as the figure fell, the scene soon to be replaced by large, transparent green letters that read "Player 2 Wins!"

Aiden moaned in disappointment, all but pouting over his loss, "No fair! You used cheats!"

Grinning, Gavril swung himself over the couch and made himself comfortable in its cushions, holding his hand out, "Shut up and pay up Numbah 3.7 M."

"Stupid game…don't even know why I play that game…don't even like that game…it's stupid…" The grumbled complaints could be heard as Aiden searched through a large brown sack until he pulled out a circular container, tossing it over to his teammates waiting hand, "That's my last Jyt too…"

Nigel watched in wonderment as Gavril pushed in a small button, causing the container to open a sort of hidden door at its tip. He lifted the drink to his friend in smug satisfaction, "Cheers!"

With that, he chugged the liquid, a drizzle of orange seeping its way down his chin, smacking his lips and exaggerating a sigh of pleasure. He swayed along with the victorious music still beeping from the game system as he sipped his prize, all in an attempt to bring a little more stem out of his comrades sour head. His attempts were in vain as Aiden mumbled an indistinguishable remark about Alison, drifting away from the group as he wandered down the hall, supposedly in search of his commander.

A boy with gray, rough skin snickered with delight, seated in the large chair previously occupied by Jani. His skull was a flawlessly flat surface, smooth and gleaming as glass, and, as Nigel noticed awkwardly, his eyes were turned horizontal and lacked lids.

The creature clasped his seven fingered hands while his lips stretched to a grin, revealing edgy, slick black teeth as he spoke, "All-right-my turn-what-d'ya-got-for-me?"

Nigel blinked, nearly positive that the child was speaking another language. He wandered if perhaps the T.R.A.N.S.L.A.T.R.O.U.T had been defective, perhaps it didn't work for all the languages. Maybe the boy was as new to the team as Nigel himself, and the others had yet to learn his foreign tongue.

As practical as the thought sounded, however, it proved to be false as Gavril shook his head and replied without the slightest difficulty, "Eh, sorry Numbah 22.31, I got some work to do." He glanced to his new, fleshy companion, "This is Numbah 1, the one Numbah 72's been telling us about."

"Yes-yes-hello-I-am-combat-expert-yes-what-do-you-do?" The boy nodded his head vigorously, impatiently waiting to be answered.

All Nigel could muster for a reply, however, was a blank stare and gaped mouth. The sentence, or what was supposed to be a sentence, seemed like one long, mushed together word, as though all the syllables had crashed and twisted into one another during an argument.

Gavril apparently understood the words perfectly, leaving the British lad to inwardly panic at his slow uptake until Rhy graciously saved him, "Numbah 22.31, shhh. Slow down now, remember what we talked about? Very slowly, just like we practiced. Tell Numbah 1 your name."

The child took a deep breathe, and very deliberately, spoke slowly, forcing his breathe as though the task was difficult for him to bare, "Hello…I am…Numbah 22.31…Elurt…I am…combat expert…it is…it is…ahhh!" He growled, frustrated, and picked up his fast-paced tongue once more, "Word-word-Numbah-8-B-how-do-you-say-to-meet-word-I-am-to-meet?"

"Happy. Are you happy to meet Numbah 1?" Gavril smiled patiently, his eyes creasing under an apparent sadness that hung over his head.

"Yes-yes-" Elurt stopped himself, took another inhale, and formed his words carefully as he rose to shake the rather bewildered boys hand, "I am…happy to meet…Numbah 1…apologies…I am…learning…not for…long…I learn…fast."

"Ahhh…yeah…it's no problem, really! I'm happy to meet you too, Numbah 22.31." Nigel laughed awkwardly, accepting the shake, "It can be really hard, I know. Why, once, it's a rathah funny story really, I went to Britian with my Dad where we used to live, and I couldn't understand a word anyone said! All this "chop chop!" and "say what!" Eh heh heh…"

The operative nodded his head wistfully, "Yes it…is very…sad to not…know your…own tongue…I know many…" He breathed, gathering his thoughts "…many tongues…I do not…ahhh….understand…all tongues…but I…know all tongues."

"Ummm…" The annoying, nervous smile that had a tendency to plaster itself to a persons face during situations such as these refused to leave Nigels lips, causing his expression to contradict itself with an understanding grin and baffled eyes.

Once again, Rhy was kind enough to spare the new cadet and explained the situation; "Numbah 22.31 has been with us for a very long time, Numbah 1. He's been a Galactic Kids Next Door operative even before the invention of the T.R.A.N.S.L.A.T.R.O.U.T, back in the days when we had to learn the languages ourselves."

Elurt's thin lips lifted, brought to life by the memories evoked by his friends words, "I learned…very quickly…many languages…"

His smile was returned earnestly, "You were definitely one of the best, Numbah 22.31."

Slowly, tension began to ease its way into the room, wrapping its arms around Gavrils neck and snuggling him until he felt choked. He reached for his waist and pressed a small button until an odd shriek whispered into the depths of his ears, growing louder and bolder as it played along with rhythms of thuds and light echoes.

"I'd better get working…" He murmured his feeble excuse for departure, allowing the noise within his headphones to increase with each step that pulled him farther away from the group. Pondering eyes fell upon his back, his friends gaze burning his retreating form with the knowledge of his guilt, and only the curious, kind eyes of the little earth boy grazed him softly, for they were the only ones that knew nothing. Though, as Gavril solemnly suspected, that wonderful ignorance wouldn't last for long.

Nigel blinked, lost among the talk of old times, times that he had never been apart of, while Rhy only shrugged at Gavrils abrupt dismissal, proceeding with his story as though no interruption had occurred, "Anyway, yeah, it was pretty hard, learning all these languages in such a short amount of time. The Galactic Kids Next Door was decently small compared to what it is now, and as it started growing, it became nearly impossible to keep up with all the new cadets. I remember needing to drag a translator around with me on certain occasions just to communicate with my fellow operatives."

"And so the T.R.A.N.S.L.A.T.R.O.U.T. was created in order to meet the demand of translators, and it did, for the most part. It's not perfect though, our scientists have yet to crack every language in the universe, Numbah 22.31's included. Everyone experiences slightly different side affects when the device doesn't work properly, and for Gavril, it made him stuck between his language and nearly every language of the universe."

"It is odd…" Elurt pitched in, "As if…I do not…control my tongue…it speaks…as it will…wish to speak."

"Oh." Nigel offered, for lack of anything else to say, "I see. So…is that why you spoke so, ahh, fast?"

The grey child nodded, "Your tongue is…so slow…I forget sometimes…to adjust my…ummm…Numbah 89 T…I do not…know word."

"I think the word you're looking for is "speed"." Rhy stretched his arms far above his head, twisting his head to the side with a _crack_, "Numbah 22.31 doesn't know all the Earth words, Numbah 1, so you might have to help him out now and then. Unfortunately, the T.R.A.N.S.L.A.T.R.O.U.T. made him learn all his languages only halfway, and almost completely erased the languages he already knew. He's re-learning your language on his own again, so just be patient with him, he really does pick up on it fast."

"Oh no, it's fine!"

His wide, pale lips spread across his flat face, only to be forced back open with a yawn. Slowly, mimicking the movements of an old man with a back problem, Rhy raised from his seat and stretched again, his body language clearly exposing what he was about to suggest.

"Well, it's pretty late. Let's get some sleep."

"Sleep?"

"Yup. We got a big day tomorrow, lots of work to be done."

"Oh…"

Rhy looked down the pale head that had suddenly lowered itself uncomfortably, looking at the ground, "Anything wrong?"

"No no, it's just…I just woke up, and I'm not really-"

Booming laughter interrupted his awkward response.

"You don't have to go to sleep if you're not tired Numbah 1, we won't ground you for staying up past your bedtime."

Nigels lips lifted in a crooked grin, nodding his understanding. He blinked as Elurt shoved a small, rectangular object into his hands.

"TV?" Despite the oddity of his eyes, Elurts expression was endearing as he suggested the pastime to his new teammate.

"You have TV here?" Delight lit Nigel's eyes. At last, something he was familiar with.

"Yes!"

Elurt snatched back the remote and pointed to the table before them. The games beeping had long since faded away, and the words "Play again?" rotated silently before a large, translucent picture suddenly replaced them. An electronic voice spoke, precise and perfect, using the delicate tone of a woman.

"Hello. Race and planet, please."

"Human. Earth."

"One moment please."

The picture filled with a light blue for merely a second before the voice spoke again.

"Connection established. Enjoy."

A cartoon boy and girl appeared on the screen, talking to a tall, incredibly bony man dressed in a black cloak. The animated boy was currently being ignored as he went about raving about chocolate sailors.

Elurt redirected Nigels wide eyes back to him, pleasantly explaining the remote as best he could, "This button…change show. This button…volume…up and down. This button…turn off."

He smiled, his body starting to relax as the sounds of toons filled his ears, "Thank you, Numbah 22.31."

"Goodsleep."

"I think you mean goodnight…"

"Ah, yes! Thank you…goodnight."

"Goodnight, Numbah 22.31."

Nigel watched as the cadet left the room before flopping down on the down, the remote in hand as he let himself sink into its cushions, the closest to relaxed he'd been since leaving home. He began flipping through channels, searching for something that would match his interest.

_"__DeeDee, get out of my laboratory!"_

_"__Thanks to, the Powerpuff-"_

_"__Not even for a Scooby Snack?"_

_"__Ed, I don't think this scams going to work-"_

_"Mama had a chicken, Mama had a cow-"_

_"__Pinky and the Brain-"_

_"__I'm Numbah One! Let's have some fun…?"_

_"__He's Ben 10!"_

Nigel froze. He quick clicked the back button, and there it was, he wasn't crazy.

_"I'm Numbah 3! Will you play with me?"_

That show. How it was still on the air, he didn't know, it never even finished the first episode. The whole thing had been a trap anyway, some crazy babies dream of turning the whole world into infants. His team had stopped him though. They always stopped the bad guys.

The only conclusion he could come to was that the Galactic's television picked up anything that has ever been broadcasted and played it, whether it was really a show or not. Nigel continued watching. He couldn't stop.

Eventually the show was abruptly cut during the battle they'd had. Nigel looked frantically down at the remote, searching until he found a button that seemed to mean 'replay'. He pressed it, and the whole episode started over again.

So that's what he did, the entire night, watching and re-watching him and his teammates, together, talking and battling, until his body became too weak and his head slumped to the side, his breathing becoming even, his mind clouded in dreams.

_"Kids Next Door-Battle Stations!"_


End file.
